Frank e



{ N M d1.)

o e P. MELLINGER.

WEIGHING SCALE.

Patented Feb. 23, 1897.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. MELLINGER, OF DAY"ON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE COMPUTING SCALE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

WElGHlNG-SCALE.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,516, dated February 23, 1897'.

Application tiled August 20, 1895. Serial No. 559,942. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: by handle C3, and providing a stop-rest O1 for Be it known that I, FRANK E. MELLINGER, the knife-edge bearings C of the head-block. of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery, State At the free ends both beams carry the usual of Ohio, have invented certain new and usependulous counterweight-supports C5 and DC 5 5 5 fnl Improvements in VVeighing-Scales; and The computing-beam in this scale and in I do hereby declare the following to be afull, all other scales where the beam or lever is clear, and exact description of the same, refbalanced on its pivots must have its center of erence being had to the accompanying drawgravity slightly above its line ot pivots, so as ings, forming a part of this specilication, and to have a small excess of weight below the 6o 1o to the letters of reference marked thereon. line of pivots of said beam or lever, and thus This invention relates to improvements in give the proper degree of sensitiveness and Weighing-scales, the invention being more esstability to the movement of said beam. pecially, though not exclusively, applicable to It is common in scale beams or levers to so computing-scales, the object-s being, iii-st, to adjust their centers of gravity vertically with 65 i5 secure a more perfect gravity adjustment ior relation to their pivots by setting said pivots the beam which cannot be tampered with by slightly below the center of gravity of the unskilled persons, and, secondly, to provide beam as that the beam will be neither too an improved means for supporting` the platsluggish nor too unstable, and to readily and form whereby the assembling of the parts is cheaply secure this adjustment when the 7o 2o facilitated and the manufacture simpliiied. beams or levers are manufactured in quanti- The invention consists in certain novel deties. It is customary to provide each beam tails of construction and combinations and with whatis known as an adjustable gravityarrangements of parts, all as Will be now deweight-in other words, a weight the adjustscribed, and pointed ont particularly in the ment of whose vertical height changes the 75 z 5 appended claims. center of gravity which determines the sta- Referring to the accompanying drawings, bility of the beam. Ordinarily this adjust- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a scale ment is only necessary when the scale is iirst With portions broken away and the platform set up, requiring the services of an expert to turned up on edge to show the improvements. secure a proper balance of each beam; but in- 8o 3o Figs. 2 and 3 are detail sectional views. Fig. asmuch as the weight is in a most exposed et is a detail section showing a modiiication. position, when any slight diticulty occurs, re-

Like letters of reference in the several Iigquiring, for instance, the adjustment of the ures denote the same parts. tare-weight, the inexperienced person tries to The scale illustrated is of the ordinary overcome the diliiculty by adj usting the grav- 8 5 3 5 form of computing or price scale now on the ity-weight, the result being that the services market, and I will not describe the construcot' an expert are required to readj ust the tion of the same further than to say that A scale. indicates the base for the platform and its le- In my present invention I have entirely vers, and B the upright for the beams or inovercome this difficulty and provided ameans 9o 4o dicating mechanism, which latterin the form whereby an expert understanding the scale shown consists, first, of a computing-beam C, may at once make the proper adjustment for with means for varying the distance between gravity, but at the same time the adjusting its pivotal point and the head block O, means is entirely removed from observation through which the motion of the platformand,if desired, may be made of such charac- 95 45 levers is transmitted to the beam, and, secter as to be incapable of adjustment without ondly, of a Weighing-beam D, pivoted in special mechanism, and for this purpose I fixed relation to the platform-lever connecprovide on the rear end of the computingtion E. beam a vertically-arran ged chamber or casing The distance between the head-block and F. The chamber is perfectly cylindrical, roo 5o pivot of the computing-beam is varied by with its longitudinal center in this instance mounting the beam on a carriage C2, moved at right angles to the longitudinal center of the beam, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and a, the top, if desired, being closed by a screw @apf- In the preferred manner of adjusting the gravity of the beam so as to so adjust the right weight above the pivotal center, previously-shaped ingots or portions of cold lead or other soft metal are driven in to this chamber, as shown at G, Fig. 2, (or melted lead poured therein,) until the proper point is reached, or, if desired, a greater quantity of lead than is necessary is driven or poured in and the surplus bored out. Thus the beams may be manufactured in quantity and subsequently balanced accurately in this manner.

It is also obvious that instead of filling the chamber F with more or less lead or other soft metal to obtain the proper gravity adjustment of each beam or lever the casing or chamber F may be cast in the first place with more metal in its bottom than is required and then drilling or otherwise removing the surplus in properlyadjusting the gravity of each beam or lever.

In every instance there must exist a capability of varying the center of gravity of the weight in a vertical direction and the use of the words vertically adjustable77 or equivalent in the claims is intended to mean having the capability of vertical variation of its center of gravity.

Although l have shown in this particular instance the chamber or casing F arranged vertically upon the beam, it is merely to perform the additional function of rigidly uniting the upper and lower graduated members of the beam, it being clear that the function of adjusting the gravity of the beam or lever with relation to its line of pivots will be equally performed if the casing or chamber F be arranged substantially parallel to and either above or below the line of pivots on said beam or lever.

XVhile l prefer to employlead, it is obvious that an adjustable weight may be employed, as illustrated, for instance, in Fig. 4, wherein ll indicates a vertical screw journaled in the chamber and having working upon it a weight li', held against. rotation bya small set-screw h, working.; in a `spline 7L in the weight. rlhe end of the screw H may be provided with a slot for a screwedriver and covered in or closed by the cap, as in the first instance. Thatever the form of the weight employed be, it should be of such character as to prevent any possible shifting from one side er the other of the chamber, and for this reason it is preferable to drive in previously-shaped ingots of'soft metal or pour in melted lead or employ a sliding weight, as shown.

When the gravity of the beam or lever has been properly adjusted by employing weight in the chamber F in either of the ways heretofore described, the capfis tightly screwed into the open mouth of said chamber with a pair of pipe-tongs or other tool, and thus securelyseals said chamber to prevent manipu- In the practical manufacture of these scales it is found that the parts may all be manufactured of a standard gage, except the platform, which must be made to suit the individual customer, and in order to make provision for allowing of the manufacture and assembling of the parts for the purposes of testing before it is determined what particular style of platform is to be furnished, that is to say, whether an iron 0r marble platform or a platform of usual character, I propose to employ what I shall term the platforin-subbase,7 which consists, essentially, of a spider or frame l, arranged immediately beneath the platform and having at its four corners downwardly-extending bifurcated legs Z/ and upwardly-eXt-ending leveling-lugs Z2, which are adapted to support and level the platform. These leveling-lugs upon which the platform rests are ada-pted to be slightly filed in order to secure a perfectly true set for the platform on the subbase, and this may be done at the last moment and the variations in the balance compensated for bythe adjust-ment of the tare weight or by the adjustment of the amount of shot in the pendulous counterweight-support on the weighing-beam.' As a matter of convenience, this subbase is held against lateral movement by hooks t' at front and. rear, and the platform is positioned and held against lateral movement on the subbase by upwardly-projeeting lugs or pins t entering corresponding openings in the under side of the platform.

The platform-levers are provided with the usual laterally-projecting knife-edge bearings K for supporting the platform or its su bbase, an d for cooperation with these knifeedge bearings it is necessary to provide hardened-steel tf-shaped bearings in the downwardly-extendin g legs, whether they be connected with the platform or its subbase. rlhese hardened-steel bearings in the accompanying drawings l letter L, and they are loosely mounted upon a rigid pin LL and between the arms of the downwardly-extending legs l of the subbase, so as to render said bearings L capable of a pivotal movement in the direction of the length of the knife-edge bearings. Thus they adjust themselves automatically in this direction to prevent any undue binding or twisting action when a weight is thrown on the platform. in assembling the parts, however, when thusconstructed, it is found, particularly where the parts are assembled by unskilled persons, that the knife-edge bearings are apt to be seated,

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not in the apeX of the V-shaped bearings, but in the edges of the bearings, and in order to prevent this in the present structure and to insure the proper entry of the knife-edge bearings when the parts are assembled the bifurcated arms of the legs are extended below the bearings some distance, and their inner sides are beveled at M at. such an angle as that a projection of the plane of the incline would strike beyond the center of the V- shaped bearings. Thus the knife edge bearing as it moves into place, even should it strike one of the inclined faces of the supporting-arm, will drop off of the same directly into the V-shaped bearing without danger of catching between the edge of the same and su pporting-arm, as will be readily understood by an inspection of Fig. 3, wherein the knifeedge bearing is shown in dotted lines as just passing off of the incline and into the V- shaped bearing.

To compensate for any possible inequality in the distance between the front and rear knife-edge bearings, the V-shaped bearings at one side of the subbase have a flattened bearing-surface, as shown at Z. `With this construction the parts may be assembled by an unskilled person without danger of wrong adjustment, which fact will be appreciated when it is remembered that the scales are shipped with the various levers and other parts dismounted and packed separately, so as to be safe against possible breakage.

The employment of the platform-subbase enables the manufacturer to keep the scales practically complete in stock and at very short notice to iit up the platform in the style desired by the purchaser.

I'Iaving thus described my in vention, what I claim as new is- 1. In a scale, the combination with the beam, of a vertically-arranged chamber or casing rigidly mounted thereon with means for closing the same and a gravity-weight located within said chamber whereby the sensitiveness of the balance of the beam may be adjusted and adapted to have its center of gravity varied vertically; substantially as described.

2. In a scale, the combination with the balanced beam, of a casing having a chamber therein with its longitudinal axis at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the beam, with means for closing said chamber and a gravityweight located in said chamber in fixed position whereby the sensitiveness of the balance of the beam may be secured but adapted to have its center of gravity varied vertically; substantially as described.

3. In a scale, the combination with the beam, of the vertically-arranged' casing or chamber en said beam, and the solid softmetal gravity-weight in said chamber and adapted to have its center of gravity varied vertically; substantially as described.

4. In a computing-scale, the combination with the weighing -beam and independent computing-beam having its pivot adjustable with relation to the platform-lever connection, of a chamber or casing on the computing-beam having its longitudinal axis at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the beam and a gravity-weight located in said chamber and adapted to have its center of gravity varied vertically whereby the proportion of the weight below the pivot of the beam may be regulated and the sensitiveness of the balance of the beam adjusted; substantially as described.

5. In a scale the combination with the beam and platform-levers having the knifeedge bearings, of the platferm-subbase resting on said bearings and having the upwardlyextending leveling projection at each corner and the platform resting on said proj ection; substantially as described.

(3. In a scale, the combination with the beam and platform-levers having the laterally-extending knife-edge bearings, of the platform-subbase having the downwardly-extendin arms coperatin g with said knife-edge bearings and the upwardly-extending leveling projections one at each corner and the cooperating projections and sockets in the platform and platform-subbase for preventing the lateral movement of the platform 5 substantially as described.

7. In a scale, the combination with the beam, the platform-levers having the lateral knife-edge bea-rings, of the bifurcated platform-supporting legs having their inner sides beveled inward, the V -shaped bearings pivotally supported in said bifurcated legs with the edges above the lower edges of the inclined surfaces a sufficient distance to prevent the knife-edge bearing from entering the joint, whereby the seating of the knifeedge bearing in the `ifi-shaped bearing is insured; substantially as described.

S. As an improved means for adjusting the gravity of scale beams or levers, a chamber carried ri gid with the beam or lever and adapt-.

ed to have more or less weight taken therefrom or placed therein and the center of gravity thereby varied vertically, and means for sealing the mouth of said chamber whereby the sensitiveness of the balance of the beam may be adjusted, substantially as specified.

9. As an improved means for adjusting the gravity of scale beams er levers, a chamber open at one end and carried rigid with the beam or lever, said chamber being adapted to contain weight more or less near its opening to vary its center of gravity vertically; and means for sealing the opening to said chamber whereby the sensi tiveness of the balance of the beam may be adjusted, substantially as speciiied.

l0. In a computing-scale, the combination with the weighing-beam and independent computing-beam having its fulcrum adj ustable with relation to the platform-lever con- IOO IZO

neeton, 0f :L Chamber open at one end and with the gravity of said beam, substantially carried by Jthe computing-beam, a vertezdlyas speeled. adjustable Qrztvty-Weight located in .said i r w -T i Y, chamber Whreby the gmvtatug of the beam B ILAN E' MLLLID (ddh 5 and the sensitveness of its balance may be Nitnessesz adjusted, and means for sealing the opening O. O. OZIAS, to said chamber and thus prevent tampering D. J. SMITH, JV. 

